San Jose State Baseball Recruits May Surprise

Get to know the newcomers for the Spartans baseball team

Some of these kids had nice seasons. SJ Bosco and Paraclete both made the final four of CIF Southern Section divisional playoffs so a recruit from either one of those schools knows what real competition is all about. Roose may be a good get; a catcher. SJS needs pitching and there are a bunch of leftys from HS that will compete for spots. None of these players were drafted. The Spartans’ roster doesn’t have any new players listed and there is always the question of how that are listed will be on the opening day roster. With SJS nothing surprises me but they certainly need help.

Jack Colette, OF, St. John Bosco HS, Bellflower, CA

He hit .358 and 2 his senior year on a strong team. Second Team All-Trinity League, Final four of CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs. He made Honorable Mention for a newspapers Dream Team.

Ryan Guardino, INF, San Marcos HS, Santa Barbara, CA

OK, I guess I should make a comment here. It looks as if Coach Hawkins is recruiting guys with some size. SJS fans have always complained how small “our guys” looked compared with the opposition. This class should take care of that. Now, if they can only deliver. Ryan hit .303 (.402 his junior year) in 2017.

Brandon Ross, LHP, Vista Murrieta HS, Murrieta, CA

He had a good year in 2017; 8-2 and 1.54 with 64 strikeouts in 59 IP. A little high on the walks but I’m hoping that will be addressed. He was Most Outstanding Pitcher and First Team All-SWL. He could be a good one.

Clayton Westrope, LHP, Livermore HS, Livermore, CA

Notice all the lefties that have been recruited? Well, here’s another. He was 7-5 and 1.90 for a team that won only three more games than he did. Right, he was the ace and I’m sure his coach wished he had one more like him. His K/BB ratio was 68/13 in 70 IP. I’ll take it. Being the stud he was and what he was expected to be before the season started garnered him a pre-season AA nomination by Perfect Game.

Santiago Cantu, INF, Patterson HS, Patterson, CA

His junior year was great as he hit .562 with 4 so he had a bit of a drop-off in 2017 as he hit .373 with no homers. Still, very good. Not a bad pitcher either but he’s coming in as a position player. He was the Modesto Bee’s POY for the Stanislaus District. His junior year was good enough (ya think?) to get him second team AA status for Louisville Slugger. High praise indeed.

Wesley Clawson, LHP, Red Bluff HS, Red Bluff, CA

He was 3-2 and 2.42 with 49 K’s in 34 IP. Another lefty. That’s about all I could find.

Ruben Ibarra, 1B/OF, St. Francis HS, Watsonville, CA

His senior year was a bit of a step back as he hit .318 with 2 after a junior year where he tore it up to the tune of .571 and 4. I still think that opposing pitchers threw him dirt so as not to break their necks watching the ball sail out of the park. The most recent stats had him playing only 9 games and I found no reason why. I don’t see him in the OF as he’s 6’4” and 240. A Michael Morse kinda guy. Yeah, that two home runs in nine games is intriguing.

Aaron Roose, C, Paraclete HS, Lancaster, CA

He hit .419 and 1 his senior year. He was first team All-CIF for his team’s division.

Jason DuMont, INF, Sunset HS, Portland, OR

No stats that I could find. However, not to worry, as I found he was ranked the 25th prospect in Oregon which says something. Appears to be a good shortstop.

Cody Stevenson, 2B, Kennedy HS, Fremont, CA

He’s pretty small; Altuve small, if you get my drift. He’s hit a ton every year with .389 his senior year. Bats left and runs like hell as he had 17 SB’s. Speed kills. He may not play right away but he’s a keeper; a lefty with speed. Made honorable mention All-Metro team (SF Bay Area).

Nick Morales, RHP, St. John Bosco HS, Bellflower, CA

Good size at 6’1” and 205 as a senior. As you can see, he was recruited as a pitcher but he hit .400 and 3. Power can’t be ignored. As a pitcher he was 6-1 and 1.29 and used primarily as a reliever. Hmm, 6 wins as a reliever at the high school level. Could mean many things. Anyway, an amazing 71 K’s in 54 IP. He was used exclusively as a starter his junior year and I’m wondering if the 1 appearance as a starter his senior year is a misprint. He was First Team All-Trinity League.

Sam Olsson, C/RHP, Sheldon HS, Eugene, OR

He has good size at 6’1” and 195. Can’t ever have enough catchers; especially if they can pitch. Sam does both. He hit a fair .290 after hitting .475 his junior year. Go figure. No recent stats as a pitcher. He was ranked the 8th player in Oregon.

Connor Konishi, LHP/OF, Helix HS, La Mesa, CA

He hit .319 and 1 his senior year and his pitching stats weren’t much to write home about. With that being said, The San Diego Union had him on players to watch for 2017. They talked a bit about his pitching and not his hitting. He made first team 2017 East County (San Diego) Baseball Team.

JUNIOR COLLEGE

Andrew Mitchel, LHP, Grossmont CC

I have him at an unremarkable 6-1 and 4.10 with 37 K’s in 41 IP. Used mostly as a starter. They saw something in him.

Travis Sanders, RHP, Linn-Benton College

Travis was 6-0 and 2.10 for this Oregon juco. he had 40 K’s in 47 IP and also used mostly as a starter.

Jace Duty, C, Chemeketa CC

An experienced catcher will be needed this coming season but who knows who it will be? His stats were unremarkable but maybe he’s great behind the plate. I will forgive shortstops and catchers who can’t hit but perform their jobs at a high level. They touch the ball more than anyone and both control the game. If they can hit, what a bonus. He hit .260 and 1.

More MWwire!

No wins and no losses but a good 1.98 ERA and 30 K’s in 27 IP. No starts and that’s no surprise. I expected more than 2 saves but his stats still look good.

Fineas DelBonta Smith, RHP, San Joaquin Delta CC

Fineas was 3-1 and 2.75 and had 39 K’s in 36 IP. Strictly out of the pen. A teammate of Lee (above). How many times did SJS fans see the game handed over to the pen with destruction following? Yeah, coach is working on the staff. These two guys (Lee above) look good but I always wonder about inherited runners allowed to score. Many times I wanted to destroy my television while watching Giants relievers walk in and give it up. Geez, don’t get me started. I won’t name names.

Sawyer Pittman, INF, Reedley CC

This kid had a pretty good year at .381 with no home runs. He was a leadoff batter and played shortstop but didn’t show much speed on the bases (2 SB). We’ll see but he can hit.

Some names from an old list of mine that don’t appear anywhere else so I beg your forgiveness if these names disappear:

Matthew Reiley, RHP, Carlmont HS, Carlmont, CA

He has good size at 6’6” and 225. He hit .375 but it’s pitching that brings him to SJS. He was 3-1 and 3.57 in 17 IP. His other numbers weren’t good and everything looked like he may have been hurt most of the season. Geez, so many things can go into incomplete stats.

Diego Fisher, LHP, San Benito HS, Hollister, CA

I didn’t find much but what I did find muddied the waters. He received an offer from UC Davis in 2016 but, apparently, here he is. As a junior he was considered one of the best pitchers in his region and a shutout win over Bellarmine gives people who know that program reason to believe the accolades. He’s a 6’4” lefty and his presence at SJS after a verbal to the Aggies makes me wonder about academics. Anyway, a welcome addition if his presence (by my words here) is true.

Walker Brinkman, RHP, Heritage HS, Brentwood, CA

Had more than a decent year in 2017. He was 6-6 (?) and 1.60. Geez, why the six losses? He had 61 K’s in 74 IP. His senior year were overshadowed by his previous years’ stats as they were really good.

San Jose State Coach Hawkins is still in the process of putting together a competitive team that has been anything but the last few years. Pitching has been the primary culprit and you can see by the players above that he and his staff have focused on pitching. Is there any quality in this class? I’ll start with saying none were drafted which is one of the things I look for. Go ahead, I dare you, take a look at Florida’s or some other SEC team’s recruits. Then again, that pales to what is accomplished on the field of play. The Spartans need help everywhere.

Names that caught my eye. . . . . Brandon Ross, Clayton Westrope, Santiago Cantu, Aaron Roose, Cody Stevenson, Nick Morales, and Diego Fisher. Nothing holy crap outstanding but pretty good quality with a couple of AA’s thrown in. I love draftees who go to school and AA from the high school level. Those designations are pretty arbitrary but drafting is a pretty good standard. As I said, the Spartans need a lot of help and I can’t help but wonder how many of these newbies will bump returning players off the squad. Could happen.